Chapter 198: Re-entering Shen Nong Jia
Translator: Tim Editor: Chrissy
“Wait,” Su Jingwen stopped Ning Qingxue and turned to look at Xie Weizheng. She said sharply, “Cousin, I have some business with Qingxue today. If there’s something, we can talk tomorrow.”
Xie Weizheng’s face changed, but he quickly recovered a smile. “In that case, I won’t disturb you. See you.”
Xie Weizheng walked out of the café with a sour expression. After a while, he made a call. “Auntie, yes, it’s me, Weizheng.”
“Mhm. I want to come over. Yes, there are some things I can’t explain clearly over the phone. Okay, I’m coming immediately.”
Seeing Xie Weizheng’s car leave, Su Jingwen suddenly realized her words might have been too harsh. Was her cousin angry?
“By the way, Qingxue, you said you have something to ask me? Did you want to ask how to use the charms?” Su Jingwen turned and asked Ning Qingxue.
“Yes, indeed.” Ning Qingxue, seeing Xie Weizheng had gone, sat down again.
Su Jingwen said helplessly, “Actually, my cousin is a very nice person; he’s just used to being a bit dominant. Don’t mind him. Oh, let’s not talk about this. The charms are actually very easy to use. For the Spirit Cleansing Charm and Fireball Charm, you just need to throw them and say ‘Lin.’ As for the Body Protection Charm, just make a small pouch and keep it on you. I don’t know about the others, though.”
Ning Qingxue didn’t expect the charms were so easy to use. Other than a Fireball Charm, she also had a Body Protection Charm and two Evil Protection Charms.
“Jingwen, the main things I wanted to ask you about are these. I thought you needed some specific movements. I didn’t expect it to be so easy. If I’d known, I would have just called you.”
Su Jingwen smiled. “You and Ye Mo are both at Luo Cang; why don’t you ask him to teach you? Remember to ask him to give me some more next time you see him.”
“How do you know Ye Mo’s at Luo Cang? And what did you want to ask me about?” Ning Qingxue asked curiously. She didn’t really believe Ye Mo was at Luo Cang; Su Jingwen must have been mistaken.
“Mm.” Su Jingwen nodded and took out the bracelet on her hand. “This is a magical artifact. Ye Mo gave it to me, but I didn’t know about it at the time. It’s called the Six Beads of Fortune. It’s the most precious gift I’ve received.”
Su Jingwen didn’t finish, but Ning Qingxue knew what she meant. She also felt the bracelet on her hands and said, after a while, “Thank you, Jingwen. The three beads you gave me saved me once, but I can’t return them to you now. I need to go out for a while. If the beads are still there when I come back, I will return them to you.”
“Qingxue, is the place you’re going dangerous?” Su Jingwen knew that Ning Qingxue understood the powers of the beads, since one was missing from hers, too.
“Mm,” Ning Qingxue agreed and said, after a while, “I came back to confirm something and make preparations. The place I’m going is indeed dangerous.”
Ning Qingxue wasn’t lying; she really came back to confirm and ask Su Jingwen about the charms. And, she needed to prepare some mountain-climbing equipment.
At this moment, the scene of Ye Mo falling off the cliff kept replaying in her mind. She couldn’t calm down. Regardless of whether it was him, she couldn’t feel at peace if she didn’t go and see. As long as she confirmed that person wasn’t Ye Mo, she would feel better.
But if Ye Mo really fell off the cliff, she didn’t know what to do. The moment she met Ye Mo in the desert and he turned to leave, she knew her heart was taken by him. There was no other reason. Even though she tried to resist and hide it, she couldn’t forget that figure.
She once thought she would never truly love someone, but when reality came, she found that she loved him, and there was no logic to it.
Su Jingwen really wanted to ask Ning Qingxue where Ye Mo was, but last time, she said he wasn’t at Luo Cang. If she asked now, it would seem as though she didn’t believe her. Her plans of getting back the bracelet also failed. Since Ning Qingxue already said that, she couldn’t embarrass herself by asking for it back.
“Qingxue, in that case, I still have two here; I’ll give them to you. If you haven’t used them when you come back, you can return them to me,” Su Jingwen thought and still gave them to her. Since Ning Qingxue used one before, it meant she really encountered danger before.
Ning Qingxue shook her head. “No need. I’m already very sorry that I took three from you; I can’t take more.”
“Qingxue, if the place you’re going is very dangerous, you should ask for help, and I can help you, too,” Su Jingwen realized that Ning Qingxue really had something on her mind.
Ning Qingxue shook her head. She had thought about it many times. If that person was really Ye Mo, she couldn’t ask the government for help. She knew Ye Mo had some power and had strong conflict with the Song Family because of her. If she asked other people to help her with Ye Mo, the Song Family would get news of this immediately. That wouldn’t be good for Ye Mo; even if he was fine from falling off the cliff, the Song Family would still make sure he wasn’t.
“I’m going, Jingwen. If I don’t… never mind.” Ning Qingxue didn’t explain anything to Su Jingwen.
Seeing Ning Qingxue walk out of the café looking lonely and exhausted, Su Jingwen lost herself in thought. What did she mean? She asked about the charms; did she have them? If she didn’t meet Ye Mo, where did she get the charms from?
Su Jingwen felt that something in Ning Qingxue’s words was wrong, but she couldn’t tell what exactly.
…
Ning Qingxue returned to the house, but Xu Wei hadn’t returned yet. She sat on the stone slab where Ye Mo once slept. It felt cool. She seemed to see Ye Mo walk over. She focused her mind and thought. He slept here before, and it was really hard on him. He was really dumb. Her eyes then turned to that big tree. Ye Mo also spent many nights there. No matter what, she should go find him.
Xu Wei just opened the door and saw Ning Qingxue lost in thought. She said with surprise and joy, “Qingxue, when did you come back?”
Ning Qingxue saw Xu Wei and quickly replied, “I just came back at noon. Xu Wei, thanks for helping me take care of the grass for so long. Do you know who planted the other grass?”
Xu Wei smiled. “It’s nothing, it’s a simple thing. Ye Mo asked someone to plant them there and told me to look after them. Ye Mo said he needed to go on a long journey. You both really love grass, haha.”
Ning Qingxue heard this and her face immediately went pale. She realized that the person who fell off the cliff must have been Ye Mo. Otherwise, how could there be such a coincidence?
“Are you okay, Qingxue?” Xu Wei just realized that Ning Qingxue was not only fatigued but her spirits were low, too.
“Nothing,” Ning Qingxue smiled and said, “I still need to go out for a while; please take care of the grass for me.”
She paused before continuing, “If I come back rather late and the grass seedlings are withered, I will tell my mum not to touch that flowerpot. Let the pot stay there. I’m going to rest; I’m tired.”
Xu Wei looked worriedly as Ning Qingxue walked into the room. She felt Ning Qingxue’s words were strange. That flowerpot had been there for many years. The house owner didn’t move it, so why would her mother move it?
Ning Qingxue rested for a night. Since she had made up her mind, she no longer felt lost. She spent half a day the second day preparing all sorts of tools and things for outdoor survival. Then, she put the Body Protection Charm and Evil Protection Charm in a bag she made and hung it on her waist. Then, she rushed towards Shen Nong Jia quickly.
There were quite a lot of people carrying large bags like hers. Ning Qingxue had been here before and was familiar with the way. She didn’t choose other places and went to the place she went with the tour group. This was because she could only see the peak from there.
When Ning Qingxue came to the no-man’s-land region, she saw a large sign hung outside. There were some tourists on the side. Ning Qingxue could tell the sign was just hung up; it wasn’t there when she came.
It said accidents occurred, so access was forbidden.
She frowned; if she wasn’t allowed in, what could she do? She looked at the middle-aged woman beside her, thought, and then asked, “May I ask if you know what happened here?”
The woman looked at Ning Qingxue’s clothing and knew she came to Shen Nong Jia for a holiday. She immediately said, “I heard a tour group encountered a sinkhole there two days ago. Then, one person went missing. That night, there was a rescue team that went inside. But now, none of the rescue team members have come out and have all lost contact. Now, it’s forbidden to go in, and they’re about to lock down this place. There are people from the army here. Of course, I heard this from others; I don’t know if it’s true.”
Ning Qingxue’s heart skipped; of course, she knew this was true. She didn’t expect none of the rescue team had made it out. Was it really that dangerous?
But regardless of that, if the military came in the afternoon and locked this place down, wouldn’t she have no chance of entering? She looked around and saw there weren’t many people and planned when she could go in when no one was looking. There was no one guarding now, so it really wasn’t hard to sneak in.
There were people gathered there discussing the eerie event two nights ago. Ning Qingxue, however, carefully avoided them and quickly snuck in, disappearing into the woods.
The woman who talked with Ning Qingxue chatted with others and seemed to have remembered Ning Qingxue after a while. She turned around, but Ning Qingxue was gone. Her face immediately went pale. The girl behind her was gone, and there was no other way except into the woods.